Some of Professor Signer's lectures are still available online.
This link takes you to a page on his Notre Dame course, "Jews and Christians Through History". Click on the Videos link in the leftmost box. This leads to a box with his lesson outline for the course. Links in the rightmost column (Videos) will let you see some of his lectures via Notre Dame's Opencourseware software.
http://ocw.nd.edu/theology/jews-and-christians-throughout-history
Or, you can view them in iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/theology-jews-christians-throughout/id382668820
From the JTA (Jewish news service)
From RJ.org (Reformed Judaism blog)
Life of Wiley blog (includes Betty's beautiful letter)
Medieval News (scholarly news blog)
Michael Signer was raised in Los Angeles. He attended UCLA as an undergraduate, earning his bachelor’s degree in Hebrew literature in 1966.
He attended Hebrew Union College, obtaining Master's degrees in rabbinic literature and Jewish history in 1970. The same year he was ordained a rabbi at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.
He then continued his studies at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Medieval Studies, obtaining his Ph.D. in medieval studies in 1978 with a critical edition of Andrew of St. Victor's commentary on Ezechiel as his dissertation. When it was published as the definitive critical edition of this work as part of the highly regarded Medieval Continuation series of the Corpus Christianorum, he dedicated this ten-year endeavor to his wife, Betty.
In 1996, the now Rabbi Signer was awarded an honorary doctorate in divinity by HUC-JIR.
An expert in history, medieval Biblical commentary, and Jewish liturgy, Rabbi Signer was Professor of Jewish History at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles from 1974-1991. He then in 1992 took a position at the University of Notre Dame, where he became Abrams Professor of Jewish Thought and Culture.
While at Toronto, Rabbi Signer developed an interest in the kind of interreligious dialogue which had been a part of his Los Angeles experience, where rabbis and Catholic priests had pioneered a respectful dialogue in the 1950s. (Rabbi Alfred Wolf and Monsignor Royale Vadakin were notable partners in this effort.) Rabbi Signer soon gained a widespread reputation by his work with Catholics and Protestants. While in Los Angeles, he taught courses at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, and conducted retreats for Catholic priests.
His scholarship was international, including North America, Europe and Israel. He taught courses at the Institut Kirche und Judentum, a part of von Humboldt University in Berlin, and at the the University of Augsburg. He taught in Poland, including at Warsaw, Poznan, Lublin, and Wroclaw, and at Krakow’s Pontifical Academy of Theology. He also designed or helped design international programs, such as the Notre Dame Holocaust Project of which he was Director, which brought students to seminars in Nuremberg and Oświęcim [Auschwitz]; he worked with the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim. Honoring him for his work, Rabbi Signer was named a “Person of Reconciliation" by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews, for effectively and meaningfully promoting Jewish-Christian dialogue.
Rabbi Signer authored many books and articles (see the Writings tab) on a wide range of topics in which he was expert. He made large contributions to the scholarly, theological and human aspects of Jewish-Christian relations, not papering over differences and past hurts, but focusing on mutual understanding. One of his significant contributions was as co-author of “Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity.” This document was eventually signed by over 200 rabbis and significant scholars from the variety of Jewish schools of thought, and challenged both Christians and Jews to take responsibility for real dialogue based on the truth of their histories, both apart and together.
His light continues to bring people together.